Day 2 - The curse of the Map Drawers

I must say I was quite disappointed to have pulled another map drawer location out of the karmic coffee tin. I was feeling 'underwhelmed' by the overall results at the end of the first day and was hoping to be able to jumpstart the energy in the room with a nice big, juicy painting. No such luck!

There was not much that offered any inspiration on this particular morning until I got to the bottom of the drawer and saw Bob Bozak's Study for Paul Henderson for Firestone. I was a little shocked by feelings of nostalgia when I saw that hockey player's face starring back at me. (did i say that?!) I had limited time to make the selection and didn't want to overthink it so, because I could easily make connections to the obvious theme of Canadian identity and nationalism that linked to the Boyle from the previous day, I chose it. I decided to just ignore Cam and Darryn's selections at this point and follow my own "game plan".

I found it interesting to consider the theme of hockey and art and Canadianism, particularly given the recent exhibitions that deal with a hockey theme like the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia's Arena: The Art of Hockey and the artists who have been using hockey imagery in their work like Diana Thorneycroft and Brian Jungen (to name only two). Is it to try and loosen the 'grip of the Group' on Canadian contemporary artists whose practice includes working with questions of identity? Is it a strategy to attract the hockey crowd into the gallery? Questions to ponder.

Bozak studied at the Alberta College of Art in the 1960s and received his MFA from York University in the mid 1980s. Given the work that we have in our collection, I was surprised to discover that he is first and foremost an accomplished ceramic artist with a number of sculptural works addressing the hockey theme in public collections. I was further surprised to discover his connection to the 1960s London art scene and his more recent invovlement with Burst: Outward Sound and Vision Festival in London in 2006.

A gap in our collection policy and protocols revealed itself. The eight works in our collection by Bozak came to us through a gernerous gift from Dawn Johnson of London, Ontario in 1992. The works all date between 1972 and 1982 and consist of paintings and drawings as well as the finished Paul Henderson piece below.

Bolzak, Robert
Paul Henderson for Firestone, 1972
Mixed Media, 26 3/8 diameter
Gift of Dawn Johnston, London, Ontario, 1992

Other than a permanent collection file that documents the gift, we have no artist file, no information about the work, his practice or his contact information. A mechanism that would allow us to track an artists practice and stay engaged in the career developments of an 'artist of interest' is necessary - as is a mechanism to identify 'artists of interest'.

Lisa